GOP Senate Hopeful Gomez Reports $350K Fundraising

BOSTON Gabriel Gomez, one of three Massachusetts Republicans seeking a spot in a U.S. Senate special election, raised $350,000 in the five weeks since he entered the race, his campaign said Thursday.

The campaign said it had received donations from residents in more than 200 of the state’s 351 cities and towns, and that more than 70 percent of the contributions were for less than $100.

A businessman from Cohasset and former U.S. Navy SEAL, Gomez is making his first run for statewide office. He will face two other Republicans, former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and state Rep. Daniel Winslow, in the April 30 primary.

U.S. Reps. Edward Markey and Stephen Lynch are vying on the Democratic side. The special election to fill the seat formerly held by Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled for June 25.

The Gomez campaign declined to provide more detailed information about the candidate’s fundraising. A spokesman said Gomez had made a personal contribution to his campaign but did not give the amount and said the donation was not included in the $350,000 total since Feb. 12.

In a statement, Gomez said the financial support he has received so far show that many voters back his “fiscally conservative voice for reform.”

Sullivan and Winslow declined to immediately provide details on their campaign fundraising to date.

The candidates are not required to file financial reports with the Federal Election Commission until April 18, just 12 days before the primary.

Sullivan’s campaign said in a statement Thursday that its fundraising efforts had only recently kicked into gear but were proving successful.

Charlie Pearce, a spokesman for Winslow, said the candidate planned to discuss policy, not fundraising, this week, including a plan to overhaul the federal tax code.

Winslow had said previously that he donated $100,000 of his own money to the campaign.

The Democratic candidates began the race for Kerry’s former seat with a hefty financial advantage.

Markey had more than $3 million in his campaign account as of the last FEC reporting period, at the end of 2012, while Lynch had $760,000. Those figures do not include any money raised since the beginning of the year.